West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1887-01-06


only an anchor watch would be main
tanned. The men must therefore have
been somewhat surprised when Captain
Tabor invited our five natives TO 60
ashore, and spend the nilht with their
friends, and announced TO the rest of Us
that We should stand watch and watch
The cook was the only native who did
not 60 He declared that he had enc MICS
osho c who would Kill m, and he wts
therefore allowed TO occupy his acCus-
toned quarters. There were ten OF MS
besides him, and soon after the Junk an
cho ed, the guns were cast loose aud
loaded with grape, the firearms brought
mp and made ready and the engineer
was instructed TO keep steam enough to
permit us 10 move The cable was ar
ranged for slipping, and then five men
turned IN ''all standing and the other
five OF us stood watch Before this oc.
CURED the taptain said 10 me:
''Mr. Graham, this may be gong to a
good deal OF trouble for nothing, but the
man who deals with these ltives has
got 70 be prepared for any emergency
/ Will therefore head the second watch
Keep your eye on that Junk, and permit
no boat to come aboard under any cir
cumstances
distributed my m'l over the vessel
t. the best advantage, aud reserved to
myself the right TO act rs free lance
That -, went from one part of the yes
sci 10 another and kept one eye ON the
Junk and tho other ON the beach. All
was quiet up to half past eleven o'clock.
when | made two discoveries I'm quick
succession. The cook had prepared a
large dish Of coffee for our use during
the night. We had a large urn on a
stand in one corner OF the dining room,
and lamp underneath kept the coffee
hot. The same thing is In use in Amer.
lean hotels aud restaurants ! was on
tho point or entering the cabin TO secure
Grink OF the beverage whol, az passed
an open window, | heard the cove of the
urn ratt'e and then caught the footsteps
oil some one in retreat. IL could be none
other than the native cook, / argued, but
did not 20 20 hi quarters TO verify or
disprovc my suspicious / entered the
cabin, turned up the light, and carefully
examined the urn The rascal had Ger
tainly "dosed' It, There was avish
powder on the cover and on the edge Of
the urn, and in his haste he had spilled
some on the floor A look inside showed
numerous Bubbles on the surface of
the liquid, but llese broke and dis
appeared while ! was looking The rascal
could have but one oh ject In his actions
] arranged the can 40 that 10 one could
secure drink, and then started TO noti-
fy the Captair. As / passed along the
deck looked for the junk. and in AN in
slant saw that she had decreased the dis
tanoe between us. The tide was setting
in, aud she was either dragging her
anchor or had purposely raised ii and
allowed herself TO drift. The Captain
was up as soon as l touched his agm. and
when / reported my suapicions Of the
cook and the junk lie replied "Call all
tho men at once, but make no noise.
That junk has got fifty men in her hold.
and tho natives on shore arc in with a
plot TO capture us. Take a pair of hand
cuffs and have the cook secured In his
berth. "
After had called the men went to
make prisoner OF the cook, but he was
nowhere 10 be found. His object i'm re
naming aboard up to that hour was to
drug our coffee and note what prepara.
tions we were making When he got
ready TO go he probably swan 10 tho
shore with his news. but he could have
reported little more than the fact that lac
had drugged our coffee which all who
were awake at midnight would probably
make use Of When the men had received
their orders VIC paid our attention 10 the
junk. and one Of the guns was quietly
rolled across the deck and trained upoa
her. When tho night glass was di-
rected 10 the shore we could make out
that many ot the natives were moving
about and evidently getting ready for
some expedition. There was no question
now but what VIC were 10 be attacked
We had n good pressure Of steam, plenty
Of hot water. and the hose was attached
and man assigned 10 take charge Of IL
II was on hour and half after mid
night before there was any decided move
on the part OF the enemy. The CAPTAIN
Of the junk could not have had niuht
glass, and perhaps he reasoned that we
ere as badly Oft. He kept paying ont
his cablc foot by foot until he was go
close onto us that ] could have tossed n
biscuit aboard OF him. Owing 10 the
set OF the tide or pome cross current. he
dropped down TO us stem first. while we
lay broadside to the beach he st srn
Of the junk was pointed amidships Of the
steamer md our gan would rake his
whole deck at evcry discharge At I
o'clock two men left her in n small boat
and went ashore. and then forty or fffv
"iHlcu HCu came ONt OF the hold and
took their stations on deck. A few had
muskets, but most Of them carried
knivefand a sort OF hand grenade. These
bombs arc flltd with viliainous com.
pound, which is let bose rs they are
broken, and the fumes are more 10 be
dreaded than a bullet Their plap. ne
VIC solved IL, was for an attack ON b ia
side Of US NO once. a fleet would come
out on ms from the shore and the Junk
would drift down on us ut the same timc
We had tho cable ready 10 slip. sent The
engineer TO his post, and then waited
At about lsnlf pa one while the tide
had yet half an hour 10 run. we saw the
shore boats make ready At lccst 200
natives were ready % com of. Thcv
knew that the cook had drug "a or
poisoned our coffee and therefore sent n
boat in advance OF Che feet % see ip
what shape VIC were The boat came iip
vary softly and rowcd twice around me
before the Captain hIilcd and let them
know VIC were wide awake. Some sort
of signal was given from the boat. and
the fight opened nj once. Just the mo-
mont we saw the people ON tho Junk gct.
ting ready b. drift her down upon ne we
gave them The grape from the six.poun
der. They wcrc not pist0l-sho
away. with most 0f fhrrnen rrot,IoJ ,ft